Pick sack



Aug. 5, 1952 T. J. SEMMES PICK SACK Filed NOV. 27", 1950 INVENTOR 771mm .1 Jawmes ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE Thomas J. .Semmes, Memphis, Tenn.

Application November 2'7, 1950, Serial No. 197,765

' 2 Claims.

1 This invention relates to pick sacks and has particular reference to means on the sack from which it may be suspended during handling and weighing operations once the sack has been filled with produce. The present application is a continuation in part of applicants copending application serial No. 114,125 filed September 6, 1949.

Heretofore, various sack constructions have been devised to enable proper handling of the sacks during weighing and transporting operations. In general, sacks have been made primarily with a view toward durability of construction and consequent longevity. Picking sacks, especially in the cotton picking industry,.are of tubular construction and are provided with a reinforced shoulder strap. Often a reinforcing of the seams and undercarriage of the sacksv is effected to the end that wearing surfaces thereof may be preserved against excessive and abusive handling, and various means have been provided on the sacks from which they are suspended during the handling and weighing operations once the sack has been filled with produce. The cotton picking sack is generally made about two or three feet Wide when flattened out and anywhere from five to ten feet long. It has an open and a closed end and is usually dragged along the ground behind a picker. In weighing a full sack, it is customary to more or less double the long sack upon itself so that it will not touch the ground and then suspend it from a hook on a set of conventional weighing scales; It hasbecome apparent that the shoulder strap employed on picking sacks is incapable of withstanding the abusive treatment incidental to handling and weighing carried out after the bag has been filled. For this reasomand due to the fact that a-solid and compact bundle is desired, usually a bite is grasped on the neck of the sack and the shoulder or carrying strap wound about it. A portion of the loop formed is then pulled between the, loop and the neck to form a smaller depending loop. Then a piece of wire such as common bailing wire is secured around a bite taken inone corner of the bottom of the sack. The sack is then doubled upon itself and the free ends of the wire passed through the smaller depending loop. The wire ends are secured together and the entire sack suspended by the wire from a scale hook.

These methods naturally result in excessive wear to the corner used and the wire cuts into the carrying strap. This is to say nothing of the danger of bits of broken wire getting mixed with the cotton and either ruining the cotton 2' gins or causingfireby sparks when the wire strikes metal in the gin.- Tearing of the corner portions occurs through the repeated application of the bailing wire to the cotton or'hemp bag surfaces. Of course, once the corners are torn or weakened by fraying, the sack is useless and this usually occurs long before the sack has reached its point of uselessness in other respects. Perfectly good sacks have to-be repaired or replaced just because: a small corner is torn.

This presents aproblem of great concern in the trade because the repair and replacement of sacks creates undesirable expense and wastage of valuable man-hours of labor. The present invention has been devised with a view toward obviating the defects in sacks heretofore constructed. 1

It is therefore a primary object of this inven tion to provide a pick sack wherein provision has been made for preventingv excessive Wear of the sack during handling and weighing operations by providing extremely strong, long-lasting means on the sack itself from which it may be suspended.

A further object of. this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensivemeans for creating a" reinforced hanging member in pick sacks which will outlast the sack itself and whereby the entire sack may be suspended :from one corner thereof.

Another objeotof the invention is to provide a pick'sack having contiguous edges with each edge folded upon itself to overlap at thepoint where the edges meet and form a multiply reinforced base for receiving a hanging member which will sustain the full dead weight'ofthe sack when fil1ed.- g .1 I

Yet another object .of'the invention is to provide a pick sack havingthe edges leading from one corner of the sack folded over themselves with means passing through overlapped folds for suspending the sack by the corner, said folds being sewn to the sack to prevent produce from accumulating in the corner of the sack where it might wedge the folds aparta'nd to reinforce the sack a substantial distance along each side from the corner.

With these and other, objects and advantages in view which will become more apparent during the course of the following description, the invention consists in the features andcombinations hereinafter set forth. j In order to make the invention more fully understood, preferred'embodiments thereof have been made the subject of illustration in the accompanying drawings in which; I

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a produce sack embodying the improvement of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a, view in perspective taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1, revealing the mode of folding the several portions of the bag at the critical point and from which it may be. suspended;

Figure 3.is a view in perspective of the sack in the handling or weighing operation, showing the method of usage to which the invention is preferably adapted.

In its briefest concept, the present invention embodies a pick sack having reinforcing folds with free inner edges which are made along two adjacent edges of said sack to form a multiply corner overlap. The free inner edges of the folds are sewn to the sack, either to one surface of the sack or through. both surfaces thereof. Means are provided for securing the overlapped folds in position at the corner to form a multiply reinforced base, the full weight of the sack when filled being supporte'dfrom said means. It is contemplated that with the reinforcing folds sewn to the sack, there willbe a better distribution of the force which is applied against the sack when it is suspendedfrom the corner. Also, there will be no dangero'f obstructions catching in the folds and pulling on the multiply" corner, especially when'the sack is being dragged'along the ground. In addition, this expedient will avoid the danger of material within the sack which might tend to force the folds apart becoming wedged between the sack surfaces close to the point where the folds are secured.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a bag or pick sack H] of the sort for which the present invention ,has been particularly developed. The sack may; be constructed of any suitable material such as eight ounce duck canvas, as normally employed in the cotton picking industries. The sack I is constructed of a single rectangular folded sheet having faces II and I2 placed one upon the other and stitched inwardly of' the edges thereof to form an envelope which if turned inside out has smooth inverted seams, generally designated by the numeral [3. These seams do not continuealong the bottom of the sack, for it is this portion which has a natural fold. One of the faces, namely face l2, has an extension portion l2 protruding beyond the openingof thes'a'ck enevolpe. 'The'sides of extension l2 are folded toward the'center to provide reinforcement panels I l to each of which is secured one end or *a shoulder strap l5.

ihe sack being of normal envelope construction has two corners i6 and ll at the closed end thereof, One .corner,,corner ll, has a portion folded to provide a 'novelreinforced section in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Along thebottom edge of the sack toward the corner, a portion thereof is folded up upon itself so that a fold l8 of substantial width is provided. This folding ofv the bottom edge upon itself creates an overlap of four plies of sack material throughout the area of the sack covered by the fold. Along theside' edge of the sack 7 leading from corner H, a fold, I9 is made sub-- stantially the same width as the fold l8 made in the bottom portion of the sack. This fold 19' is formed in the same manner as the fold it; Of course, these two folds, tend to diminish the volume capacity of the sack in accordance with the amount of material folded upon itself. At.

a point indicated by numeral 20, the folds of the 4 bottom and side edges of the sack overlap each other to form a reinforced base having eight thicknesses or plies of sack material. Considerable experimenting with grommets, in picking sacks has revealed that only by thus reinforcing the seat of the grommet will the sack sustain a full load of cotton when the sack is repeatedly suspended on a scale without the grommet tearing out at the corner. The folds l3 and I9 taper in width as they extend away {from the base point 20 along each edge of the 'sack, but they do extend a substantial distance along each edge to reinforce a considerable area adjacent the corner. The inner free edge of each fold is preferably sewn securely through the entire sack as shown by the stitch lines 2|. Of course, the stitching may pass through only one face of the sack. This further reinforces the corner area by enabling an additional distribution of the force of pull along the inner as well as the outer edge of the fold,

It should. be noted here that the folds at the corner extend almost an equal distance from the,

base point 28 along each edge, with preferably a slightly longer fold along the bottom edge. This construction tends to balance the sack when suspended so that the pull is exerted in a direction generally from a 45 angle to the corner. These folds also protect the edges of the sack from the wearing action of the strap when it is placed over the corner as previouslydescribed. Also, it is noteworthy that with the inner edge of each fol sewn to the sack, not only isthe pull more evenly distributed, but produce within the sack is prevented from accumulating around the grommet where it can exert a Wedge-like force tending to pull the grommet eyelet and washer apart. Inserted through the overlapping portions of folds l8 and 19 at the base 28, is a grommet member 22 for supporting and weighing the sack. Through one side of the sack, an eyelet 23 is forced and secured to a washer 24 placed on the opposed side of the sack over the overlap. Securing of the eyelet and washer to each other at the point indicated by numeral 2E will prevent the overlapping portions of folds i i it from becoming displaced.

Figure 3 shows how the sack it is handled in a weighing operation. The sack is shown as being filled to capacity with hand picked or machine picked produce such as cotton. The .weigher in preparing an individual sack for weighing will grasp the bag just beneath the mouth drawing the folds thereof tightly together to form a neck and then will drop the-shoulder strap lfiover the closed mouth of the sack. A simple slip knot 38 is then formed'about the'neck 3i with'strap ifiso as to leave a'free loop 32. Once the filled sack has been closed atthe neck, the weigher grasps the corner I l of the sack, doubles the sack upon itself, and inserts the corner ll through the loop 32. The compact bundle thus formed is then hung on a receiving hook 33 of a conventional weighing scale 34. Of course the sack may be easily handled in the bundleform'by moving it by a hook from onepl'ace to another.

It will be understood that various changes may be made such as'in the size, shape and arrangement of parts or by th substitution of equivalents without departing from the spirit of this invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited to the form or uses shown, except to the extent indicated in the appended claims, which are to be interpreted as broadly as the state of the art will permit.

Iclaim:

1. A sack for produce comprising superposed layers of material closed at their sides and one end, a fold in the side edge of said material commencing intermediate its ends and extending through said closed end, a second fold in said closed end commencing intermediate its sides and extending through said folded side, and a grommet joining said sides and bottom folds and forming a, lifting hook receiving aperture in the sack, the inner edges of said folds being joined to the body of the sack to prevent produce portions from being retained in said folds.

2. A sack for produce comprising superposed layers of material closed at their sides and one end, a fold in the side edge of said material commencing intermediate its ends and extending through said closed end, a second fold in said closed end commencing intermediate its sides and extending through said folded side, and a grommet joining said side and bottom folds and forming a lifting hook receiving aperture in the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 723,282 Jessen et al Mar. 24, 1903 1,172,044 Pope Feb. 15, 1916 1,538,022 Brekke May 19, 1925 2,178,611 Scheidegger Nov. 7, 1939 2,525,665 Glesner et al. Oct. 10, 1950 

